The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'' is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'' fantasy

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

, first published in 1977 by TSR. The ''Monster Manual'' was the first hardcover D&D book and includes monsters derived from mythology and folklore, as well as creatures created specifically for ''D&D''. Creature descriptions include game-specific statistics (such as the monster's

level Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights *Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *Canal pound or level *Regr ...

or number of hit dice), a brief description of its habits and habitats, and typically an image of the creature. Along with the '' Player's Handbook'' and '' Dungeon Master's Guide'', the ''Monster Manual'' is one of the three "core rulebooks" in most editions of the ''D&D'' game. As such, new editions of the ''Monster Manual'' have been released for each edition of ''D&D''. Due to the level of detail and illustration included in the 1977 release, the book was cited as a pivotal example of a new style of wargame books. Future editions would draw on various sources and act as a compendium of published monsters.

History of the ''Monster Manual''s

Early ''Dungeons & Dragons''

The first ''D&D'' boxed set did not have a separate ''Monster Manual'' but provided listings for monsters in ''Book 2: Monsters and Treasure'', one of the included booklets. After the series was separated into basic and advanced games, the basic game continued to be published in level-based boxes. Monsters of the appropriate level were included in the rulebooks for the various basic game sets (the ''Basic'', ''Expert'', ''Companion'', ''Master'', and ''Immortal'' sets). These monsters were later collected in the '' Rules Cyclopedia'', which replaced higher-level the boxed sets, and the '' Creature Catalogue''.

''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''

Original ''Monster Manual''

The first publication bearing the title ''Monster Manual'' was written by Gary Gygax and published in 1977 as a 108-page book. It was the first

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

book for any ''D&D'' game and the first of the core manuals published for the new '' Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'' version of the game. The ''Monster Manual'' was a supplement to the game, intended to describe the standard monsters used in ''AD&D''. The book was a compendium of more than 350 monsters. Some monsters were new—others were compiled and revised from older sources such as '' Monsters and Treasure'', '' Greyhawk'', ''

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'', '' Eldritch Wizardry'', '' The Strategic Review'' and ''Dragon'' magazine. Each monster was listed alphabetically with a comprehensive description and full statistics and was, in many cases, supported by an illustration. The cover of the original printing was illustrated by David C. Sutherland III. A softcover version of the ''Monster Manual'' was printed in the United Kingdom by

Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer Age of Sigmar'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake (gam ...

in 1978. When the book was reprinted in 1985 it featured new cover art by Jeff Easley. The book remained relatively unchanged throughout its fifteen printings up to 1989. Minor changes during the print run included a cover art change to match a new logo and house style, and some minor corrections introduced in the 1978 printings. The first edition ''Monster Manual'' included topless portrayals of some of its female monsters, such as the succubus, Type V demons, lamia, and

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. The first edition was also the first appearance of the mimic. The 1st edition ''Monster Manual'' was reproduced as a reprint in 2012. ''Monster Manual'' was also reviewed by Don Turnbull who felt that "this manual deserves a place on every ''D&D'' enthusiast's bookshelf", and praised the explanatory text, stating that it "amplifies, where necessary,

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and the result is the most comprehensive listing of ''D&D'' monsters you will find, presented in a clarity which is unfortunately all too rare in other sources." Turnbull noted some minor printing errors and felt that some of the drawings were not as good as others, but felt that the book's quality "is as high as one can reasonably expect in such a complex matter". Turnbull concluded by saying "I can do no more than heap high praise on the ''Monster Manual''. If every DM and every player didn't buy it, I would be very surprised. It is without doubt the best thing that TSR have produced so far." Lawrence Schick, author of ''Heroic Worlds'', commented that "As nothing is easier to design than new monsters, it has spawned a host of imitations." Games journalist

David M. Ewalt David M. Ewalt (born 1976) is an American journalist and author. Ewalt is the author of the books ''Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It'' (2013) and ''Defying Reality: The Inside Story of the Virtual Reali ...

commented that the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ''Monster Manual'' may have been a rush job, but its quality is undeniable. ..The ''Monster Manual'' succeeded not just as a game supplement but by elevating the D&D rule book to fetish object. ..The book became a beloved companion to a generation of gamers, something they came back to again and again."

=Reviews

= * ''

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'' #45 (June 1988)

''Fiend Folio''

'' Fiend Folio'' was published by TSR, Inc. ''Fiend Folio'' was primarily made up of monsters described in the "Fiend Factory" feature of '' White Dwarf'' and from various ''D&D'' modules, while some were original creations. It introduced several popular monsters to the ''D&D'' game including drow, githyanki, githzerai,

slaad The slaad (pluralized as slaadi, or as slaads in the 4th edition) is a fictional monster in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. They are extraplanar creatures (outsiders) that resemble giant humanoid toads of various colors (r ...

, and death knights. It also featured monsters that were widely ridiculed, such as the flumph, one of the few non-evil creatures presented in the volume.

''Monster Manual II''

'' Monster Manual II'' was a 160-page hardcover book published in 1983, also credited solely to Gygax. The book was a supplement describing over 250 monsters, most with illustrations. Many of the monsters were drawn from scenario modules. The book included random encounter tables for dungeon and wilderness settings built from the ''Monster Manual'', ''Fiend Folio'', and ''Monster Manual II''. Some of its contents were taken from various ''AD&D'' adventure modules, in particular quite a number from '' S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth'', and a dozen new devils that had been first published in the pages of ''Dragon'' magazine. Like the ''Fiend Folio'' before it, the monsters in ''Monster Manual II'' listed the experience point value for each monster within the entry. The ''Monster Manual II'' along with the First Edition '' Unearthed Arcana'' book featured quite a number of monsters, races, and places from Gary Gygax's home Greyhawk campaign world.

''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition''

The '' Monstrous Compendium'' superseded the ''Monster Manual'' with the release of ''AD&D'' 2nd edition. The ''Compendium'' was a binder of looseleaf sheets, rather than a hardback book. The first two volumes contained the core monsters of the game. These were followed by many appendices that contained extra monsters for particular campaign settings. The format was intended to help Dungeon Masters (DM) keep handy only the monster statistics needed for a particular game session, as well as to greatly expand the information about each monster, as each was given at least one full page. It would also mean they would only need to purchase core volumes and appendix volumes for the campaigns they wanted, rather than getting a mix of monsters in books. However, the binder format ultimately proved impractical for two main reasons. First, looseleaf pages were not as durable as the hardcover format. As it was a frequently used game aid this was a serious concern. Second, TSR routinely printed different monsters on each side of a sheet, making it impossible to keep monsters in strict alphabetical order. In 1993, the ''Monstrous Manual'' was released, compiling all monsters from the first two volumes of the ''Monstrous Compendium'' plus many monsters from other sources into a 384-page hardcover book edited by Doug Stewart. More ''Monstrous Compendium'' appendices were released as a supplements to the ''Monstrous Manual'' in the form of paperback books. They included updated reprints of loose leaf ''Monstrous Compendium Appendices'' and new volumes.

''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3rd edition

The ''Monster Manual'' for the third edition of ''D&D'' was released on October 1, 2000 as the third of three core books of the system. Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams all contributed to the third edition ''Monster Manual''. Williams is credited with the design of the book. The updates were not intended to make major changes, only to update older monsters to third edition rules. According to Williams, "the first item on the agenda was combing through the game's twenty year collection of monsters, and deciding which ones were going into the book... The design team decided to focus on creatures that fit well into classic dungeon style adventures, with extra emphasis on creatures we felt the game needed." In 2001 ''Monster Manual'' won the Origins Award for ''Best Graphic Design of a Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or Supplement 2000''. One reviewer for '' Pyramid'' called it "...an essential reference book, and it is a bargain..." The next volumes, '' Monster Manual II'' and '' Fiend Folio'' were new monster-specific rulebooks. They contain mostly updated monsters from the sourcebooks of earlier editions, though some monsters have almost no overlap with those of their first edition namesakes. There were no new versions of ''Monster Manual II'' or ''Fiend Folio'' for the 3.5 edition of ''D&D'', although update errata for both volumes and for the original third edition ''Monster Manual'' are available for download from the publisher's website.

Reviews

*''Backstab'' #24 *'' SF Site''

''Dungeons & Dragons'' version 3.5

In July 2003, the ''Monster Manual'' was revised and released again for ''D&D'' v 3.5. The revision was done by Rich Baker and Skip Williams. The 3.5 revision has a slightly different entry on each monster than 3rd edition. Notably, each monster's attack has been divided into ''attack'' and ''full attack'' entries. When asked about the hardest part in revising the book, Rich Baker replied: "The hardest part of the job was probably the sheer volume of the work we needed to do. There are hundreds of monster entries, and each monster has a couple dozen data points to examine and check." Some creatures from the ''

Psionics Handbook The ''Psionics Handbook'' is a sourcebook published by Wizards of the Coast in 2001 for the 3rd edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. It contains a multitude of rules and options for integrating psionic powers into t ...

'' and the third edition '' Manual of the Planes'' were added to the revised book. Further revision included the addition of an enhanced version of most monsters as an example of advancement (usually either with a template or with class levels). Many monsters also included instructions on how to use them as player characters. The ''Monster Manual'' v 3.5 was reproduced as a premium reprint on September 18, 2012.

''Monster Manual III''

'' Monster Manual III'' was published in September 2004, and was designed by Rich Burlew,

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Jesse Decker Jesse Decker is an author, designer, and editor of roleplaying game material. Biography Decker began playing ''Dungeons & Dragons'' in 1983 during recess at his elementary school. During the summer of 1996, he began doing "temp work" for Wizards ...

Andrew J. Finch Andrew J. Finch is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Andrew Finch began working at Wizards of the Coast in 1996, and held a number of different positions. Finch was ultimately working as the Director of Digi ...

Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel Gwendolyn is a feminine given name, a variant spelling of ''Gwendolen'' (perhaps influenced by names such as ''Carolyn'', ''Evelyn (name), Evelyn'' and ''Marilyn (given name), Marilyn''). This has been the most popular spelling in the United Stat ...

, Rich Redman, Matthew Sernett,

Chris Thomasson Chris Thomasson is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Chris Thomasson was Paizo Publishing's editor for ''Dungeon'' magazine when he announced " The Shackled City Adventure Path" in 2003. His ''D&D'' design ...

, and P. Nathan Toomey. This Monster Manual is notable for its descriptions of where the monsters might be found in the Eberron and Forgotten Realms campaign settings. Chris Perkins explained: "Almost all of the monsters in the ''Monster Manual III'' are new. We didn't want to give gamers a bunch of beasties they'd already seen, and we found several interesting monster niches to fill.

''Monster Manual IV''

Monster Manual IV ''Monster Manual IV'' is an optional supplemental source book for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. Contents As with other ''Monster Manual'' supplements, MM4 contains a variety of new creatures as well as expanded variants on staple ' ...

'', published July 2006, was designed by

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, Matthew Sernett,

, Andrew Finch, Christopher Lindsay,

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, Chris Sims, Owen K.C. Stephens,

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, JD Wiker, and Skip Williams. This book was also published in the v3.5 format and used the new stat block format that was introduced in the ''Dungeon Master's Guide II''. ''Monster Manual IV'' contained fewer actual monsters than Monster Manual II and III, but had sample lairs and encounters for them, gave stats for classes and templates applied to old creatures, and full page maps. The book also ties into the "Year of the Dragons" theme that Wizards of the Coast planned out for 2006 with the Spawn of Tiamat, yet contains no new monsters that are considered true dragons.

''Special Edition Monster Manual''

In October 2006, the ''Special Edition Monster Manual'' was released, completing the set of special edition core rulebooks started in 2004 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ''D&D''. Like the others, this book was leather-bound with silver-gilt edges and a cloth bookmark. The book was expanded with some new information, 31 new illustrations, and a new index. All collected errata up to its release date were included in this revision.

''Monster Manual V''

'' Monster Manual V'' was released in July 2007, with David Noonan as lead designer, and additional design by

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, Jason Bulmahn,

David Chart David Chart is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career David Chart authored '' Akrasia: Thief of Time'' (2001), the first in Eden Studios's "Eden Odyssey" series of adventures. Chart took over as ''Ars Magica'' Lin ...

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, James "Grim" Desborough, Rob Heinsoo,

Sterling Hershey Sterling Hershey is a full-time architect and freelance game designer, who has worked on three different incarnations of the ''Star Wars'' role-playing game for West End Games, Wizards of the Coast and Fantasy Flight Games, and also on the ''Sta ...

, Tim Hitchcock, Luke Johnson,

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, Aaron Rosenberg,

Robert J. Schwalb Robert J. Schwalb is a writer in the role-playing game industry, and has worked as a game designer and developer for such games as ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying'', ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'', and many other RPG ...

Rodney Thompson Rodney Thompson is a game designer whose writing credits include numerous books for the '' Star Wars Roleplaying Game'' and the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. He was the lead developer for the 4th edition version of the Dark Su ...

, and

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. This book was published in the same format as the ''Monster Manual IV'', featuring lairs and tactics and, like III and IV, detailing how these new monsters fit into Eberron and Forgotten Realms.

''Dungeons & Dragons'' 4th edition

The ''D&D'' 4th edition ''Monster Manual'' was released with the other core books on June 6, 2008. It featured the demon prince Orcus on the cover. The book was designed by Mike Mearls,

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, and James Wyatt. '' Monster Manual 2'' was released on May 20, 2009 with

Demogorgon Demogorgon is a deity or demon associated with the underworld. Although often ascribed to Greek mythology, the name probably arises from an unknown copyist's misreading of a commentary by a fourth-century scholar, Lactantius Placidus. The conc ...

on the cover; ''Monster Manual 3'' was released on June 15, 2010 featuring

Lolth The drow ( or ) or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of elves connected to the subterranean Underdark in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have traditionally been portrayed as generally evil and ...

on its cover. ''

Monster Vault ''Monster Vault'' is a supplement to the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Contents ''Monster Vault'' collects the monsters of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' world in one box and presents all-new variants, including new s ...

'' was released November 16, 2010 and featured monsters introduced in the ''Monster Manual'' revised to the new format that was introduced in ''Monster Manual 3''. '' Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale'' was released June 28, 2011 and re-introduced a few new monsters as well as several related to the setting of Nentir Vale. All volumes of the ''Monster Vault'' are parts of the ''Dungeons & Dragons Essentials'' line of 4th edition ''D&D'' products.

Reviews

*'' Pyramid''

''Dungeons & Dragons'' 5th edition

On September 30, 2014, the ''D&D'' 5th edition ''Monster Manual'' was the second core book released for the new edition. On the staggered release schedule, Jeremy Crawford wrote "our small team couldn’t finish the books at the same time and also ensure their high quality. ..We could either stagger their releases, or we could sit on the books until all three were finished". Crawford and Mike Mearls co-lead design for the Fifth Edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The cover depicts the beholder Xanathar attacking adventurers in the Underdark.

Reception

In '' Publishers Weekly's'' "Best-selling Books Week Ending October 13, 2014", ''Monster Manual'' was #5 in "Hardcover Nonfiction" and sold 16,956 units. In a review of ''Monster Manual'' in '' Black Gate'', Scott Taylor said "In all, this is a very sharp book in the gaming 'Big Three' (''Players Handbook'', ''DMG'', and ''MM''), and anyone looking to take on the challenge of 5E will be happy with what they've invested in." The 5th edition ''Monster Manual'' won the 2015 Origins Award for Best Role Playing Supplement and Fan Favorite Role Playing Supplement. The book won two 2015 gold ENnie Awards: "Best Monster/Adversary" and "Best Interior Art".

Reviews

* ''

'' (vol. 4, Issue 12, Nov/Dec 2014)

References

External links

Detailed information on the 1st ''Monster Manual'' and differences between printings3rd Edition ''Monster Manual''
at Wizards of the Coast website
4th Edition ''Monster Manual''
at Wizards of the Coast website
5th Edition ''Monster Manual''
at Wizards of the Coast website
Errata: Monster Manual

Monsters by Challenge Rating
{{D&D topics 2000 non-fiction books 2003 non-fiction books 2008 non-fiction books 2014 non-fiction books Books by Gary Gygax Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks ENnies winners Fiction about monsters Handbooks and manuals Origins Award winners Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1977 TSR, Inc.